And Then There's Maude
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"And Then There's Maude (Maude's Theme)" was the theme song for the television series Maude, written by Dave Grusin and Andrew Bergman, and performed by Donny Hathaway.
Keeping with the theme of the liberal persona Maude (played by Bea Arthur) embodied, the theme lyrics compared many historical figures to Maude, such as Lady Godiva, Joan of Arc, Isadora Duncan and Betsy Ross. In Joan of Arc's case, her achievements are described with lyrics that were popular vernacular at the time, but are now considered to be outdated (Joan of Arc, with the Lord to guide her / She was a sister who really cooked).
At the end of the song, as Hathaway's backup singers exclaim "And then there's Maude!", Hathaway describes attributes that Maude holds, and then both Hathaway and the backup band exclaim, "Right on, Maude!" to a scene of Bea Arthur making a trademark pose or smile.
"And Then There's Maude" was parodied on Saturday Night Live, in which Horatio Sanz lampooned the image of Adrienne Barbeau's character Carol (with partial lyrics consisting of "Sassy, slutty, sexy, skanky/Right on, Carol!"). Columnist Christopher Muther of The Boston Globe picked "And Then There's Maude" as his favorite television theme song of the 1970s. [1]
The song was also parodied on the Family Guy episode No Meals on Wheels, in which it contains an extended version with far too many historical references making the song much too long.
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